Officials in the sporting industry say people are still lining up and going online to purchase sporting event tickets, even though nationwide talks of a weakened economy and job security resounds among citizens.

Officials said that ticket sales have not been hindered by the economy, but sometimes ticket prices can be affected by an unstable market.

“Prices have been going up steadily every year,” said Jon Greenberg, executive editor of Team Marketing Report, a sport marketing research company near Chicago. “Last year the NBA went up 3.5 percent and the NFL went up 8 percent this year. But every team is its own story and it depends on outside factors, like whether a team wins or their performance.”

Greenberg said western Pennsylvania has a strong support base for both professional and college sports.

Even if ticket prices continue to increase ticket sales will follow, he said.

“People are still going to go to games,” Greenberg said. “Western Pennsylvania has no problem selling tickets, but teams like in Florida or Tennessee probably have some problems.”

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Baseball will be the first professional sport that may be affected by the recent economic slump, he said.

Lou DePaoli, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the Pirates, said the organization kept season ticket prices the same for the next season, but have yet to determine the price of single game tickets.

“What we did for season ticket holders is kept them flat for most of the seats,” he said. “We discounted them to make them more affordable because the economy is a little tough. We want to make it more affordable to become Pirate fans.”

The organization announced that there will be no price increase for season ticket holders earlier this week — making it the seventh consecutive season without a price change and the longest stretch for any Major League Baseball team.

“We use a model to go through and take a look at the supply and demand for all the seats,” DePaoli said. “It’s not just a bunch of people sitting around a table coming up with random prices.”

The minor league hockey team in the area, the Johnstown Chiefs, also have consistent ticket sales, although the start of the year is often a slow start, according to General Manager and Vice President Bill Bredin.

“Right now it’s tough to say because we only played three home games,” he said. “Last year our average attendance was 2,300 per game and our attendance so far this year is an average of 1,785.”

He said the start of the season ticket sales are generally down due to interest in high school football games.

The Chiefs have raised ticket prices from last year, but Bredin said, they are still the lowest in the league.

“Basically individual tickets went up 17 percent. A ticket last year for an adult was $14.50 and now it’s $17.50. Student and senior citizen tickets went from $12.50 to $14.50 and children tickets stayed even at $8,” he said. “It’s absolutely the lowest ticket prices in the league. There are only four teams in the league that tickets are under $20 and we are one of them.”

Officials said people continue to attend sporting events because they are looking for a venue to temporarily escape from financial hardships.

“What will happen is maybe they won’t buy a $30 seat but they might buy a $20 seat,” DePaoli said. “They’ll still come because it’s a form of getting away from things and it provides a nice relief to get their mind off things.”

Bredin said people like to support a sports team.

“I think when the economy is weak and people are depressed and in a market like this, where there aren’t major professional sports, the Chiefs are really something people can rally behind and lift their spirits,” he said.

Most organizations offer ticket incentives with various season plans, giveaways and family nights.

Greenberg said the Steelers have also been consistent with ticket prices since Heinz Field opened. He expects tickets to Penguins games to increase once the new arena being built opens in 2011.

A list of ticket prices for all professional sports, including beverages, food and parking can be found at the Team Marketing Report’s Web site at www.teammarketing.com and clicking on Fan Cost Index for each sport.